My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils rewards Blanton’s good performance with a win as they defeat the Padres, 3-1.

The presently punchless Phils got enough hits to reward another recent good performance by Joe Blanton with a win, as they defeat the Padres, 3-1.

The Phils took the lead in the fifth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Shane Victorino hits an RBI single, knocking in Jayson Werth, who was earlier hit by the pitch, then moved up to second on Raul Ibanez’s ground out, 4-3, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Padres tied the game up at one-all in their half of the fifth as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, Jon Garland hits an RBI single, scoring Chris Denorfia, who was safe at first on a force out, 6-4, as Chase Headley, who had earlier walked, was wiped out at second for the inning’s second out, and then went to third on Nick Hundley’s single, while sending Hundley, who had just singled, up to second base. The Padres then tried to take the lead as Hundley tried to score on David Eckstein’s single to center, but was nailed at home, 8-2, by a strong throw by Victorino which beat Hundley to the plate, as Brian Schneider applied the tag for the final out of the inning. The Phils regain the lead in the seventh as, with a man on, and with one out, Victorino hits an RBI triple, knocking in Werth, who had earlier walked, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, now with runners on the corners, as Carlos Ruiz is intentionally walked, and with still one man out, pinch hitter Mike Sweeney hits a grounder to shortstop Miguel Tejada, who threw to second to attempt a doubleplay, but Ruiz’s slide into second baseman Eckstein hard enough to slow down the throw to first, allowing Sweeney to beat the throw to first, while Victorino would cross home plate, giving the Phils a 3-1 lead. That would be the final score as the Phils’ bullpen would pitch three 1-2-3 innings, with Brad Lidge recording his eighteenth save, as he ended the game by getting Headley to fly out to left.

Joe Blanton gets the win as he pitches six innings, giving up a run on six hits and a walk, while he strikes out three. His record is now 6-6 with a 5.15 ERA. Jose Contreras collects his tenth hold of the year as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Ryan Madson picks up his eighth hold of the season as he also pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Brad Lidge collects his eighteenth save of the year as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one. Jon Garland took the lost as he pitches six and a third innings, giving up three runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter, while striking out two. His record is now 13-9 with a 3.29 ERA. Joe Thatcher, Luke Gregerson, Edward Mujica and Ernesto Frieri combine for two and two-thirds scoreless innings, giving up just one walk (Thatcher), while striking out three (Gregerson (1), Frieri (2)) between them.

The Phils had only three hits in the game, with Shane Victorino leading the team with two hits, a single and a triple, as he knocked in two runs. Jimmy Rollins had the only other Phil hit, a single. Mike Sweeney had the other Phil RBI as he hit into a force out. The Phils’ bats were otherwise silent, which will have to change before things really gets bad for the team.

The Phils (72-57, 2nd East) will conclude their three-game series with the Padres (76-52, 1st West) with an afternoon game. The game will be played at PETCO Park and will start at 4:05 pm Eastern (1:05 pm Pacific). The Phils will send to the mound Cole Hamels (7-10, 3.47), who is coming off a no-decision against the Astros on August 24, as he went seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk, as he struck out eight, in the Phils’ 4-2 extra-innings lost. In his last three starts, his record is 0-2 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty innings, giving up eight runs on seventeen hits and four walks, while striking out twenty-one batters. He will be going for his first win in over two months, while hoping the bats will score more than one run for him. The Padres will counter with Clayton Richard (12-5, 3.55), as he is coming off a win against the D-backs on August 24, as he pitched six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and five walks, while striking out eight, in the Padres’ 5-0 win. In his last three starts, his record is 3-0 as he pitched eighteen and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on sixteen hits and nine walks, while striking out eleven. Richard will try to end the Phils’ present winning streak. The Phils will be trying to sweep the series before going on to Los Angeles.

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